(I posted this initially on r/Islam, but it didn't show up, so I then posted it on r/MuslimLounge. So to anyone who already saw this, I apologize. I wanted to post it on this sub as well, since this sub is more popular.)
When some Muslims want to defend the concept of free will in Islam, they say:
"God simply knows what we are going to do. He does not compel us."
It may make sense for a creature to simply know what another creature will do in the future. But you are talking about God here. If God knows something is going to happen, it means that He did not stop that thing from happening, it means that he allowed that thing to happen, it means that he decreed for that thing to happen.
The Quran is replete with verses making it clear that God has ordained everything. At the same time, God asks us constantly to strive; to do good deeds. Are we free, or is everything predestined?
The answer is, both are true.
Now, I know almost every reader will think: "This is absurd. It is impossible for two contradictory things to be true at the same time." Well, it turns out, it is possible. I cannot tell you how this is possible. I cannot explain the mechanics of this law. I can only explain to you, why the existence of both free will and predestination can be possible.
First of all, we Muslims are humble. We speak respectfully about God and His laws. We know we have little of God's knowledge (Quran, 2:255). This is why we refrain from saying that something is "absurd." We instead say that something is "beyond human understanding."
How can you give certainty to yourself that something seemingly absurd can exist? By taking as an example something else that is definitely absurd but that exists. The best and the easiest example is the Universe.
Can you comprehend an infinite Universe? No. Can you comprehend a finite Universe? No, because you cannot comprehend that which is beyond this finiteness. Yet this Universe exists. Do you realize that this Universe in which we live, is in fact impossible, absurd through and through?
In the same way, God can predestine everything, and at the same time, we can have free will. This means that, if right at this moment, you turn your head upward, God had predestined that you would turn your head upward. If you do not move at all, God had predestined that you would not move at all. You cannot escape God's predestination, and at the same time, you are one hundred percent sure that you are choosing which way to turn your head. That is because you are, in fact, choosing. Both predestination and free will are equally true.
A lot of people ask whether there is any point in asking God for something, since everything is predestined. Those people are forgetting that even the action of praying itself has been predestined by God. For example, if you ask God to make you the most respectful human being in the world, God had predestined that you would ask Him this. If you are thinking, "should I ask God to make me the most respectful person in the world," God had already ordained that you would act this way. God has predestined absolutely everything, even the paths upon which all the ants that will ever exist will walk.
God Himself constantly instructs us to pray to Him, to ask Him for anything. God Himself constantly instructs us to avoid evil and do as much good as possible. So this is all that you should know. Trying to solve the puzzle of free will and predestination will surely lead to failure. Sects have emerged as a result of being unable to solve this issue.
Both free will and predestination exist. This is possible for God, the same way it is possible for a Universe that makes no sense to exist, exist.
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